Shui Meng wants Sombath Somphone back. 'I'm just a wife.'

View full sizeSombath Somphone and his wife, Ng Shui Meng, in a vacation photo provided to the Associated Press. He was abducted at a police checkpoint in Vientiane in December 2012.Courtesy of the family of Sombath Somphone

Ng Shui Meng told a Portland audience Tuesday evening she doesn't intend to start a movement. She just wants her husband back.

She was responding to a question from a Lao-American in the audience, who urged Shui Meng to broaden her efforts to promote transparency by the government of Laos. But Shui Meng, who's visiting the United States to raise awareness of the kidnapping of her husband, Sombath Somphone, wasn't interested.

"I'm just a wife," said the Singaporean researcher and social scientist. "To have a movement, you have to people to follow."

When another member of the audience asked if she was afraid to return to Laos, where her husband was abducted 16 months ago at a police checkpoint, she said no.

"I've lost my husband," she said. "What can they do to me? I've got nothing to lose."

The story of Sombath Somphone's unexplained disappearance has been widely spread by Amnesty International and other organizations troubled by his loss. It was described briefly on OregonLive last week. A full backgrounder on his work on behalf of disenfranchised Laotians and his "enforced disappearance" can be found at sombath.org.

Activists and governments, including U.S. Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, have called for a vigorous investigation leading to Somphone's return. The Lao government has said it wasn't involved in his disappearance and has been investigating, but has found no answers.

Closed-circuit video footage shows that police stopped Somphone on a busy road. He got out of his car and went into the checkpoint structure. A motorcycle rider arrived, dismounted, got in Somphone's Jeep and drove it away. Later, Somphone emerged in the company of another man and was placed in another vehicle, which drove away.

Shui Meng hasn't heard from him since.

The government of Laos has speculated that he was kidnapped for personal or business reasons, but Shui Meng told her listeners Tuesday that's implausible.

"Sombath has no personal enemies," she said, "nor was he ever involved in any business activities."

While there has been little to no public comment inside Laos about Somphone's abduction, Shui Meng said she would continue to call for answers.

"I feel like I'm a mosquito trying to sting an elephant, but I have to go on," she said. "I hope I can somehow crack the silence."